"A lot of people have become complacent about it," Arnold said.

Another problem that these surplus vaccines have given rise to is the sheer amount of medical waste generated from the doses that expire this week. This to be stated simply is that millions of tax payer ™s dollars are going down the drain. Some are considering giving away these vaccines to those in need. For example the Lake County Health Department provided some of the vaccines on Thursday to people at New Hope Christian Fellowship Church in Mundelein, where Mexican immigrants had come to apply for Mexican passports.

Many have criticized the fact that although the vaccine was brought into the market pretty fast, it still failed to cover the flu season.

Health officials said Thursday it is important to continue vaccinating against H1N1, even though the outbreak peaked months ago. The virus is still spreading "at fairly low levels" in Minnesota, said Dr. Ruth Lynfield, the state epidemiologist, and is spreading fast in some parts of the country, notably the southeast.